Dreams of Midnight
by Whytegriffin
Summary: A pregnant Rapunzel, an angry Eugene, a trip back in a starting snow storm - and then she goes into labor...


Dreams of Midnight

Eugene was not talking to Rapunzel - or even looking at her for that matter, which was a tad difficult with her sitting almost in his lap rather than the saddle. It was cold out and the temperature had been steadily dropping, the wind rising. The snow was falling thick around them, only muffling the dark further.  
"Eugene -" she started, but he snapped back too suddenly for her to continue.  
"No. I don't want to hear it! Rapunzel, I asked you to stay behind this once. It's not like you have to prove your charity or something! You're not dumb. You could see the weather was getting bad - yes leaving me kind of stupid too - but the baby's coming any day now! Just what were you thinking?" Rapunzel was silent for a moment, the wind playing games with her long hair. She shook her head.  
"I just - well I promised them I would come with you the next time, and you know that..."  
"Rapunzel! They would have understood!"  
"But the little ones..."  
"Dear, its an orphanage. Believe me, you understand things that most kids don't know about. You know that wouldn't be breaking your promise anyway! I mean, you wouldn't be here if you were having the baby!"  
"Well in all fairness neither would you!" Rapunzel snapped back, crossing her arms in front of her - maybe that was just because she was getting cold. Eugene shook his head, which didn't really make a difference because neither one could see the other.  
"Entirely different." He insisted. "At least you left Flynn home." He muttered. Rapunzel sighed. Yes, this was one of the times that her husband did happen to be in the right. And how could she explain it? She actually had almost decided to stay home, but something nagging her at the back of her mind had made her come along.  
"I'm sorry, Eugene." She whispered, leaning back into him even though her hood was covered with snow. She hadn't thought about that - but there was so much snow swirling around that it didn't faze him anyway. This time Eugene sighed, letting go of the reigns with one hand so he could wrap his arm around his pretty little wife a bit better.  
"I can't see you hurt." He explained as softly as he could. "I'm only traveling with one man - well, with a boy - today. This weather could kill you, and then how would I live with that?"  
"I really have to wonder if I was thinking. I -" She stopped short, her brow furrowed for a moment of question and fear, but Eugene couldn't see that. His focus was changed completely to her when she left out a brief, sharp gasp. The blood drained from his face and he almost felt his heart stop.  
"What is it?" He demanded, stopping his horse, dropping the reigns and turning her frantically so she was facing him. Her face was just as worried as his, more pained, and looking down. Any anger that may still have been there melted away into the fear of a terrible nightmare - one that seemed to be opening up before him, grinning widely. His hand dove to feel the saddle under her, but her skirt and his left pant leg were already soaked.  
"We need somewhere to stop right now!" He called out at the squire, who was looking rather confused at all of this. "Find something! A farm house, an inn..." Eugene knew the land well. The town was another three miles and the nearest inn - well it would not be easy to find in this weather.  
"Uh, sir?" The squire asked, utterly confused.  
"We need to find a shelter. Now. Right now!" Unfortunately Eugene got just the answer that he was expecting.  
"You know these roads as well as I, sir. There may be some standing buildings, but ... No, sir, there's a barn, a new one, set up none too long ago. It's a little ways off of the road, but still close. Probably a few cows in it, but -"  
"It'll do. Show me." The squire nodded, seeing no point in pushing the question any further. He was just a boy, no more than 17, so it was excusable, but still...  
The boy, grabbed the reigns of the couple's horse and and heading straight into the wind. Eugene wrapped his armies around Rapunzel who was more than willing to lean into his warmth, her brow furrowing with a sudden pain now and then. Why she had chosen to ride was anyone's guess, but Eugene had left her palfrey with the orphanage barnyard animals, with promises that he would have to return soon for it anyway, which made the already eager teens in charge of that area even more eager. Both of her legs were on one side of the horse this way, and maybe it didn't actually make a difference, but he didn't want to take any chances. Only a few minutes that seemed like ages later Eugene saw it, but how well built it was he couldn't see. All that he could make out of it was a huge dark shape. Well, this would be better than nothing. Out of the wind at the very least. "There's no farm near here?" Eugene asked, a little surprised that there should be a lone barn.  
" No." The lad shook his head as he pulled the doors open, "but someone was here recently. Fresh hay, you can smell it." The lad shone his lanterns around, looking for cattle, finding nothing.  
"Than why...?" Eugene asked, suspicion at the back of his mind.  
"The house burned down last fall, and the family moved away for the winter. Farmers and shepherds use it when they are passing through on business." Eugene nodded. At least that made sense and in theory they wouldn't be walking into some robber's trap. He jumped off of the horse, grabbing the boy's lantern and sought out any hanging on the walls, lighting three of them straight away. He handed the lantern back to the boy and pointed to the door.  
"To the palace. Go! Tell them it's the princess."  
"But sir, if she needs to get back why don't you just take my -"  
"She's in labor, you idiot!" Eugene shouted, unable to withhold his aggravation. "Go. Quick as you can, but be careful. Above all be sure that you make it home alive."  
"Yes, sir. I will."  
"Right. Go."  
"Sir, yes sir." He replied, somewhat confused - but he left, which was the point. Eugene closed the doors tight after the squire and led the horse deeper into the barn to a place that looked a little cleaner.  
"I thought you might like to have some privacy." he whispered. "There's not a good spot for you yet." He explained while he lifted her from the horse. "Let me stack up some hay for you, alright?" Rapunzel nodded, trying to collect her thoughts. Eugene kissed her quickly like he was saying 'be right back' and hung a lantern in one of the inner stalls where there was less wind. It was also the cleanest one, and he raced off in search of more hay. Rapunzel worked off her soaked undergarments, leaving them in a pile on the floor as she watched her husband lugging armfuls of hay to make a nicer place for her. She hoped that he knew she couldn't stand much longer. Her legs were trembling and her knees wobbling. She was worried. The cold, the barn; but she couldn't let Eugene know. Chances were that he was just as worried for the same reasons. Eugene came by again, spreading another armload of hay onto the pile and then dropping the saddle from the horse and stealing its blanket. Normally Eugene would have treated a horse far better then to just unsaddle it, but when a woman is about to give birth that takes priority. He wrapped his arms around her, his face next to hers kissing her gently as he eased her onto the horse blanket, lifting her cape above her waist so that it would stay dry and offer more warmth later on. Rapunzel sighed, shifting uncomfortably, a whimper escaping her lips despite her best efforts to hide the pain. Another contraction cut into her and she grabbed Eugene's hand without even having to look for it. Eugene almost cried out too as her nails ripped through his skin. She sighed again, relaxing very little as she braced for the next one.  
"They're coming too close together, Eugene." She gasped as the next one hit her hard. He knew that, and he felt a strange, icy fear crawling up the back of his neck. He sank down beside her, kissing her gently before whispering a steady stream of adoring and encouraging words while she squeezed the hell out of his hand. Eugene removed his shirt - prying his hand out of hers for about five seconds - and covered himself again with his vest and cape. He ripped the sleeves off and tucked the whole ruined shirt into his vest to keep it warm. At this rate, baby number two would be making a debut very soon and would need something to keep him or her warm - and keep them both dry. Eugene left his vest half unbuckled so the baby wouldn't have to scream about the icy metal. Rapunzel gasped, clasping Eugene's hand again and groaning. He replied by leaning in again, offering her the warmth of his body for comfort in the cold, kissing her with tears in his eyes. He dearly wished that he could have taken her pain upon himself, if only half of it!  
"Eugene," Rapunzel gasped, "can you - could you sing for us? I think it might make it easier, more familiar, for both of us. Might - might help me feel less afraid." Rapunzel caught his hand in a death grip again. Well, he hadn't had any feeling in his hand when he held his first born son, either, so why should this one be any different? He had a slight smile on his face as he catalogued Rapunzel's favorite songs in his mind. It was February and Lent already, but that wasn't going to stop him from singing any song. He softly started to hum 'Greensleeves' before his voice grew louder singing the strains of 'What Child is This?' With only a few interrupted bars when she almost squeezed his fingers off. The last words had barely died on his lips when Rapunzel screamed, not like before. This was agonized, unlike anything they had been through before. Eugene's blood froze. He tore his hand from her grasp mercilessly and dropped to his knees. Maybe she just wasn't expecting it, or maybe this baby had a larger head, or maybe ... Eugene felt his heart stop as the whole world went silent to his ears. For a horrified moment he couldn't hear his wife's sobs and screams. The baby was coming the wrong way. The only sounds filling his head were bitter memories. Orphanages. Girls with nowhere to go who intended to leave their babies as foundlings. Girls who had died - their babies with them... "Born the wrong side down." The midwife had said, shaking her head and crying. " poor thing was so twisted inside of her that there was no chance for either of them. Poor things." ... He may have been utterly lost in this stupor, his whole life shattering before his very eyes had not the desperate, agonized cry of his beloved brought him back.  
"Eugene!" Rapunzel was trembling, tears staining her cheeks and sweat pouring through her hair. She had screamed his name three times before he heard, and his face was pale as death when he finally looked up. This wasn't happening. It just couldn't. He looked at her desperately, his brow furrowed, threatening tears in his dark eyes.  
"Eugene, what is it?" She gasped, pushing desperately and erratically, not paying enough attention to what her body was doing. Eugene swallowed hard and flew back up to her face, taking it in his hands. All she could see were his eyes and they were desperate, almost as desperate as she was and just as scared - but there was something else there. Eugene did not cry easily, but now that he was this close she saw his face was covered in tears.  
"I need you to focus, alright? Do as I say?" He gasped, trying to slow down his speech, trying with all his might to sound less scared then he was. "Listen, Zel, the baby's coming the wrong way. Back end first. I don't... We have to be careful, alright?" Rapunzel nodded and closed her eyes, feeling Eugene's lips on hers before he slid down toward her knees again. All she had to grasp onto now was the hay, but she could also feel his strong, reassuring hands. Eugene held the baby, pulling it gently with his heart in his throat the whole time. He had no idea how much he could do, how he was going to ease the feet down if he even could - this wasn't good. He couldn't see, his eyes were stinging with tears. One leg came down, but then eternity seemed to force its way into time as nothing else happened. Nothing. Rapunzel was trying so hard, he was trying to help - what could he do?  
"God help me!" Eugene sobbed, tempted to drop to the ground and weep. But he did not. He couldn't. A thought, sudden and urgent rushed upon him. "Rapunzel stand up." He said all at once, wiping his face on his arm since his sleeve wasn't there.  
"Wha- Eugene?" She whimpered with a sob.  
"I need you to stand up!" He repeated, strength suddenly, finally entering his voice. "Come on, Zel! Lean on me, okay?" He gasped, reaching up with one hand, placing hers on his shoulder.  
"Euge-" she moaned.  
"I can't lose you!" He cried, his voice breaking into a desperate sob. "Please. I can't. Rapunzel, please. Baby, lean on my shoulders. All on me, okay? Just stay focused, okay, babe?" He sobbed, his eyes searching hers pleadingly. Rapunzel didn't take the time to nod; she could feel in her body the reason he was desperate. This was not right. Eugene bent his back and Rapunzel pulled herself up, trying to keep her cries and sobs to a minimum. The baby's other leg slipped out and finally Eugene had her around the belly, expecting for a second that the rest would come quickly, but her arms were in the way and hadn't come down like they should have. Rapunzel screamed again, sobbing, gripping his vest so hard that she was ripping the skin underneath it. Eugene grit his teeth so he wouldn't make a sound. If this was the only way that he could share her pain he was more than happy to do It. He was sweating buckets despite the cold. If the baby was caught inside - if there wasn't enough room - there was only one thing that could be done, something the court physician had discussed with them both with the first one when he hadn't apparently noticed Rapunzel's rather generous hips that set off her small figure. But it was risky. Extremely risky. Even in the best prepared circumstances the mother died more often than not... Rapunzel had told him once, holding his face, looking into his eyes. "If its the baby or me you know who comes first, right?" He had just woken from a terrible dream - and apparently he had been very verbal because he had woken her up as well. "I know." He had whispered back in the dark with the tears of his nightmares still covering his face. "I love you so much." He had whispered and broke down crying while his pregnant wife comforted him. "You'll always be my new dream." He whispered huskily. "And you mine." She had whispered, caressing his hair, kissing his forehead as she had rocked him back and forth.  
It seemed like eternity. Part of the baby's arm - he could see was coming down ... "Dear God please," Eugene whispered, closing his eyes for a second, letting the tears spill put of them. "let her breath. Let them be alright." Nothing happened. Rapunzel screamed again, ripping Eugene's heart from his chest. He startled, pulling the baby suddenly harder then he thought he should have just as Rapunzel disciplined herself to give another push and all at once there she was in his hands, rigid at first in her rage at the cold and the eviction before she took her first breath of air to scream it out.  
Rapunzel shuddered, letting out a relieved sob and Eugene let out a trembling laugh. He tucked the screaming, wriggling baby into his vest before easing his wife back onto the blanket and the warm hay. He tucked the cape around her shoulders as she started undoing the buttons of her dress so the baby could lie close to her and keep warm. Rapunzel watched her husband, possibly with a little jealousy, cradling the baby next to his heart, singing softly to her as he tied the umbilical cord and cut it with his pocket knife. He smiled at his bride, kneeling beside her, sheltering them both and tucking the baby next to her skin. Eugene tore a part off one of his sleeves and let Rapunzel clean her off while he took care of everything else that he could for her, eventually drying Rapunzel with one of his sleeves and easing her legs up under her cape and wrapped it around them. Rapunzel was shushing and cooing to the little girl, wriggling in her arms not sure where she was. He crawled back over, sitting beside her head and held his hands out.  
"Hey! My baby." Rapunzel whispered with a smile in her tired face. Eugene smiled back, rubbing her nose with his.  
"Hey, my turn. You had her the first nine months, remember?" Rapunzel wrinkled her nose at him sweetly and stuck out the tip of her tongue, sliding baby out and slipping her into Eugene's arms. He smiled, huddled down almost in a ball and pulled out the sleeve-diaper, wrapping the baby around with it since they had no pins. "Why is it that we always have a blanket along except for this time?" he wondered mostly to himself as he wrapped the remains of what once was his shirt around his baby girl. She was perfect, just like her mother - except... her eyes were such a dark blue. "Think she'll have brown eyes?" He asked.  
"I hope so. Just like yours. She'll be lovely with the most beautiful eyes in the world."  
"Yeah, as long as she doesn't get my nose she'll be good." He teased. Rapunzel laughed softly and Eugene offered her a kiss while tucked the baby into her arms again.  
"Your nose is beautiful." she whispered, "and if that's the one she's got then she'll beautiful with it."  
"She's our baby." he whispered back. "Doesn't matter what she looks like - she's beautiful." Rapunzel smiled again, so ready to sleep, far warmer then she thought she would be. Eugene must be freezing in his bare arms. He shuddered suddenly and buckled his vest, drawing the shoulders around his. Nailed it.  
"You're freezing." Rapunzel scolded.  
"I'll live." he muttered even as he rubbed his arms to keep them warm. "I don't seem to recall being the one who just gave birth."  
"But you're the hero who brought it safely." she whispered, caressing his face, looking into his eyes. Eugene leaned his head on hers and they gazed at their daughter who was surveying the scene. She stopped suddenly, closing her eyes and sucking away at the air.  
"Well, not quite as immediate as her brother, was she?" Eugene laughed. Rapunzel laughed at Eugene as she kissed the baby lips and started nursing her. Eugene kissed his wife's hair tenderly, taking in her fragrance, thanking God with every breath that they were both still here. He shivered and finally threw his cape around her as well, enveloping them.  
"I could have lost you both ... all because you have to go and make promises to orphans." He whispered, scolding, relieved and joking all at once.  
"Hmmmm. I like making promises to orphans." She said, gazing meaningfully up at him.  
"I'm not included." he insisted. "I mean the ones that make you leave the castle during blizzards."  
"I don't think that was the real reason...seeing the orphans, I mean. " She said slowly. "Just think if you had not delivered her. I would have been home and you wouldn't have been back yet. What if neither of us survived?" Eugene was silent, staring into space. The horror of that possibility was one thing that he hoped he would never have to bear. So perhaps this was all for a purpose - though why he would be chosen when he knew next to nothing about delivering a baby was beyond him. Perhaps because of the utter desperation he possessed, the love that was his life. He wrapped his arms about her more tightly and kissed her long and deep before musing,  
"Hmmm. A birthday during Lent for this one. I guess I can relate to that." He shrugged. "Let me see, today would be February -" Eugene sat up slightly, looking Rapunzel accusingly in the eye. "Oh no. You didn't -" Rapunzel nodded, the mischievous spark in her eyes snapping brightly.  
"Remember, not my fault entirely!"  
"Rapunzel!" Eugene gasped, blushing a little bit. Rapunzel's free arm smoothed over his chest and her hand wrapped around the back of his neck.  
"Happy St. Valentine's day, dream." She whispered. Eugene shook his head, his eyes glittering roguishly and laughter shaking in his throat as he mentally grabbed her around the waist and dipped her almost to the floor before - well, he couldn't, so he sufficed by just kissing her again.  
With one dark baby eye open, the tiny princess wondered if they were ever coming up for air.


End file.
